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<h1>Grand Slams</h1>

<p>The four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Grand Slams, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, 
and public attention. They are the <gale:a href="aus_open">Australian Open</gale:a>, the <gale:a href="roland_garros">French Open</gale:a>, <gale:a href="wimbledon">Wimbledon</gale:a>, 
and the <gale:a href="us_open">US Open</gale:a>, played in that order. Currently, both the <gale:a href="aus_open">Australian Open</gale:a> and the <gale:a href="us_open">US Open</gale:a> are played on 
hard courts, while the <gale:a href="roland_garros">French Open</gale:a> is played on clay, and <gale:a href="wimbledon">Wimbledon</gale:a> is played on grass. The phrase "Grand Slam" is the 
winning of all four Major tournaments in a single year however it has also been used for many years now to refer to a Major tournament. Though technically incorrect, since a "Grand Slam" is 
a statistic, not an event, this term is now used by the Major tournaments themselves.</p>
<p>The Open Era of tennis began in 1968 when the Major tournaments agreed to allow professional players to compete. <gale:a href="wimbledon">Wimbledon</gale:a>, the first of the Majors, began 
in 1877, followed by the <gale:a href="us_open">US Open</gale:a> (1881), the <gale:a href="roland_garros">French Open</gale:a> (1891), and the <gale:a href="aus_open">Australian Open</gale:a> (1905). 
Beginning in 1905 and continuing to the present day, all four majors have been played yearly, with the exception of the 1st and 2nd World Wars and 1986 for the <gale:a href="aus_open">Australian Open</gale:a>. 
The <gale:a href="aus_open">Australian Open</gale:a> is the 1st Major of the year (January), followed by the <gale:a href="roland_garros">French Open</gale:a> (May–June), 
<gale:a href="wimbledon">Wimbledon</gale:a> (June–July), and <gale:a href="us_open">US Open</gale:a> (August–September). Winning both <gale:a href="wimbledon">Wimbledon</gale:a> (on grass) 
and the <gale:a href="roland_garros">French Open</gale:a> (on clay), back-to-back, is quite an achievement considering the traditional difference between the court <gale:a href="surfaces">surfaces</gale:a> 
and the fast turnaround time between the tournaments.</p>
<p>In modern years, the Majors have begun to add instant replay, giving the players the ability to challenge calls. The <gale:a href="us_open">US Open</gale:a> was the first to allow this in 2006. 
Both the <gale:a href="us_open">US Open</gale:a> and <gale:a href="aus_open">Australian Open</gale:a> also feature night matches played under the lights. The <gale:a href="us_open">US Open</gale:a> 
was the first to feature night matches and also features the most night matches of any Major. The <gale:a href="us_open">US Open</gale:a> is the only Major to have a tie-breaker in the 5th set of Men's 
Single's play, whereas in all the other Majors players play out the 5th set (until one player leads by 2 games).</p>
<p>A singles player or doubles team that wins all four Major tournaments consecutively is said to have achieved the "Grand Slam". If the player or team wins all four consecutively, 
but not in the same calendar year, it is called a "Non-Calendar Year Grand Slam". Winning all four at some point in a career, even if not consecutively, is referred to 
as a "Career Grand Slam". Winning the four Majors and a gold medal in tennis at the Summer Olympics has been called a "Golden Slam" since 1988, when Steffi Graf became the only person 
to accomplish that feat in a single calendar year. Andre Agassi and Rafael Nadal have accomplished a "Career Golden Slam", winning all five events but not in the same calendar year.</p>


<p>Further information about the Grand Slams:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<gale:a href="aus_open">Australian Open</gale:a>
</li>
<li>
<gale:a href="roland_garros">Roland Garros</gale:a>
</li>
<li>
<gale:a href="wimbledon">Wimbledon</gale:a>
</li>
<li>
<gale:a href="us_open">US Open</gale:a>
</li>
</ul>

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